LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Epicenter closed as a lukewarm favorite late Saturday afternoon in the fifth and final pool in the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which Churchill Downs offered with a new wrinkle.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Over the last two decades, they’ve rarely run a Wood Memorial that didn’t have a Todd Pletcher horse in it. Since 2002, Pletcher has run at least one horse in 18 of the 19 runnings of the Wood, missing only 2005. The pandemic canceled the 2020 running.

More significantly, Pletcher has won the Wood six times – one shy of legendary trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons’s record – including last year when Pletcher’s 72-1 shot Bourbonic finished first and his 14-1 shot Dynamic One second.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – This is what it comes to. A long winter of waiting and thinking and planning and hoping will boil down to a critical span of less than two minutes when the Blue Grass Stakes is run Saturday at Keeneland.

Smile Happy and Zandon, the two favorites in a field of 12 Blue Grass runners, have been regarded for months as major contenders for the 148th Kentucky Derby. Now would be a good time to prove it.

ARCADIA, Calif. – From the time Richard Mandella first worked Forbidden Kingdom last May 20, until his most recent start in the San Felipe Stakes five weeks ago, Mandella’s main focus has been trying to get Forbidden Kingdom to ration his abundant, natural speed. Mandella even postponed his first try around two turns, originally contemplated last fall after a winning debut, until Forbidden Kingdom had raced four times.

Grade 3, $600,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks, 1 1/8 miles (Tapeta), Turfway Park, April 2, 2022
(100 Derby qualifying points for first, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)

Winner: Tiz the Bomb, by Hit It a Bomb
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
Owner: Magdalena Racing Lessee
Beyer Speed Figure: 94

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Early Voting will use Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct to cast his ballot on whether to push forward to the Kentucky Derby in four weeks.

Messier

Empire Maker – Checkered Past, by Smart Strike

Bred in Ontario by Sam-Son Farm ($470,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky selected yearling purchase by SF/Starlight/Madaket)

Messier, who takes his one and only shot at earning a Kentucky Derby berth on Saturday at Santa Anita, is from a pedigree that has had classic success on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border for legendary breeding operations.

WHO’S HOT

ARCADIA, Calif. – When Tim Yakteen first pedaled over to Los Alamitos, he could never have imagined the ride he’d end up on.

He was 18, newly arrived in the United States from Germany, living in an apartment in Cypress, Calif., and the only mode of transportation he had was a bicycle, which limited the scope of his job search.

“I needed to be able to bike to work,” he said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Thursday to Saturday wagering window that will close before any prep races are run this weekend is a new wrinkle being presented by Churchill Downs with the fifth and final pool in the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.